


Super Sides

by pattonly_absurd



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, Human!Sides, super hero AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-02-16 06:22:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13048299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pattonly_absurd/pseuds/pattonly_absurd
Summary: The super hero Sanders Sides AU that nobody wanted or asked for.Just for clarification, Logan has telepathy, Patton has super speed, Roman is a shape shifter, and Virgil causes hallucinations of whatever someone fears (no idea what that's called).





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Food? They eat cookies... (let me know if I need to add anything else, I'm bad at this!)

“Okay, slow down. You want to do _what?_ ”

Logan pulled another book off of the shelf while Patton and Roman followed behind. The library was mostly empty, so they had to whisper. Or, they tried to. Logan groaned internally every time one of them opened their mouths. Roman and Patton had no volume control.

Patton bounced slightly next to Roman. “I want to be a superhero! It’s not like I have any reason why I shouldn’t be one!”

To most people, that statement would have seemed strange, especially coming from an adult, but Patton, as well as Logan and Roman, weren’t most people. Each of them had a unique “power”, an ability that defied the laws of science. It drove Logan insane, but the other two loved it.

“Patton, you just can’t decide that you’re going to be a superhero,” Logan replied as he pulled another physics book off of the shelf. “It would most likely lead to legal issues with the government, not to mention the fact that you could be hurt. Besides, what would be the point?”

“If I was a superhero, I could help people! It’s not like everyone can run really fast!”

“Shh, Patton! Don’t be so loud!” Roman told him, and Logan rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like Roman was any quieter.

Logan grabbed another book and realized that he wouldn’t be able to fit another in his hands. “Come on, we can debate this in a more private location.” He headed towards the check-out counter, the others following him and arguing about something.

Logan could hear the lady who checked him out wondering what sort of person would choose the types of books he had at the same time, and he couldn’t blame her. He had books about historical events that science couldn’t explain and advanced physics text books, but he also had some fictional books involving characters with powers similar to the ones that he, Roman, and Patton displayed.

After picking up the books, Logan called to the others. “Are you two coming, or have you decided that fighting in a room designed to give people a quiet location to read and study is the best thing you could do with your time?”

“Calm down, professor kill-joy. We’re coming. You barely let us spend any time in the fiction section, anyways! This was boring, and I don’t see why we had to come.” Roman frowned and left the library.

“I call shotgun!” Patton shouted and sprinted towards Logan’s car at a speed that should not have been humanly possible. Logan glanced around; fortunately there hadn’t been anyone around.

“Patton, what have I told you about expressing caution when we are in public settings?” Logan asked, irritated.

Patton bounced up and down, waiting for Logan to unlock his car. “I know, Logan, but I’ve barely been able to move around all day! I have too much energy.”

The three of them got in the car, and Logan drove to his house. He wouldn’t call Patton and Roman his friends, but they were the only people he ever really spent time around. He had met Roman a few years prior when he had accidentally encountered Roman while he was in the middle of shape shifting. They had talked for some time about powers, but had later lost touch. Roman had met Patton a few years later, when Roman had bumped into Patton and startled him enough to make him run away slightly faster than he should have. Roman got back in touch with Logan, letting him know about Patton and his abilities, and so there they all were. It had been a few weeks since they had met up and started discussing their abilities, and Logan was ready to take a more scientific approach to it. He hated not knowing how their abilities worked, where they had come from, or why it wasn’t common for people with “enhanced abilities” to exist.

They reached Logan’s apartment. “I still think that I could be a superhero. You two could be ones, too!” Patton insisted as they entered.

“I have to admit, Logan, the superhero thing does sound cool. Maybe I can’t be a prince, but I can be a handsome, talented hero loved by the world!” Roman declared.

Ah. That was why being around Roman gave him a headache, Logan remembered.

“I still don’t think that this idea is logical. Can we focus on studying our abilities, please?” Logan opened the door and everyone entered.

“Come on, Logan! Imagine how much good we could do if we were super heroes!” Patton was basically begging at this point.

“Yes, imagine the adventures! Tales would be told of us for years to come!” Roman added. He headed towards Logan’s kitchen, grabbing the cookies Logan had bought specifically for when the other two came over, and handed one to Patton.

Logan sighed. “Patton, don’t you think you have enough energy without the additional sugar? And I still stand by what I said. If the two of you want to go be heroes, that is fine by me, but don’t expect me to be involved in such nonsensical activities.”

“Okay, Logan, but you’re missing out!” Roman said as he shoved about four cookies into his mouth.

“Fine. Now, let’s start with the experiments...”

Logan was convinced that the other two would spend one day running around in homemade “hero” costumes, then come back to let him know that he had been right the whole time and that the hero idea was a bad one.

That’s not what happened. Two weeks later, Logic was running around alongside Morality and Creativity, who were making headlines as the world’s first true superheroes.

Logan would never admit it, but he loved it.


	2. Suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty Virgil-centric. The chapters will alternate who they focus on, and the next one is going to be Patton.  
> Warnings: Fire, car crash, anxiety attacks, mentions of blood and injuries, mentions of violence (let me know if I need to add any!)  
> Sorry for the wait on this one! I had exams and holiday stuff, but now I should have more time to work on this! The next chapter will be out much sooner, I promise.

When people thought of the word strange, Virgil definitely came to mind. He only left the safety of his room during the day to go to work, he seemed to blend into the shadows and appear without warning, he constantly had bags under his eyes, and nobody really knew anything about him. He worked at Feline Good, a pet store that was known for being the friendliest place in town, which was not the sort of place you’d expect to find someone who made bitter comments about everything he could. Nobody really knew what to make of him, and everyone felt nervous around him.

The nervous part made sense, at least. Virgil was what society would call “gifted”, and not the intellectual way. In recent years, several people had started showing up with enhanced abilities, ones that science couldn’t explain. Gifted people were able to defy the laws of physics and do things that shouldn’t have been humanly possible. Virgil, for example, “controlled” fears. Controlled in quotation marks because he wasn’t really in control of his powers.

Virgil was constantly aware of every fear felt around him, from the smallest fear of spiders to the largest case of PTSD. It was enough to give anyone an anxiety disorder, which Virgil had been diagnosed with when he was only nine. Whenever Virgil became too panicked, he could accidentally cause people around him to hallucinate, or to be unable to focus on anything but their fears, similar to a panic attack. He wasn’t a fun person to be around, Virgil knew.

Spending his time listening to music, writing angsty poetry, scrolling through Tumblr, or complaining about his job, Virgil never expected anything interesting to happen to him. Sure, he was gifted, but things never happen to people like Virgil.

He leaned against a shelf of dog food at Feline Good. He groaned internally; someone had made a complete mess of the aisle looking for a specific brand and bag size. They ignored the fact that by moving things around, the underpaid employees would have to put it back. He started sorting out the bags when footsteps approached him from behind.

“Hey, kiddo, want some help?” Patton bent down and started sorting the bags, not waiting for a reply. Virgil sighed, but secretly, he was thankful for the help. He would have been there all night without his coworker’s aid.

“I’m not a kiddo, Patton, we’re the same age.”

“Nonsense, you can still be my kiddo no matter how old you are.” Patton grinned. “So, how’s it going?”

“I mean, I’m here, so...” Patton laughed at that.

“Yeah, I know working isn’t fun, but I’ll help you with this and you can go home, okay?”

Patton was the only person on the planet who ever talked to Virgil, or who helped him with anything. They had become friends a few months earlier, when Virgil had an anxiety attack. He had made a pretty big mistake and another coworker had yelled at him, but Patton helped calm him down. He had stayed with Virgil until he knew that Virgil was okay.

The two finished picking up and they walked out to their cars together. “See you tomorrow, Virgil!” Patton called as he left.

Once Patton was out of sight, Virgil let himself smile. He didn’t think that Patton quite thought that they were friends, but it was nice to have someone to talk to.

His life was pretty boring and average, but Virgil didn’t mind. In fact, he was okay with just existing.

Of course the stupid fire changed everything.

\---

Virgil pulled up to his apartment to find it in flames. Cursing the whole world internally, he watched as three figures dressed in masks and capes ran around, saving people from the fires and shouting things at each other.

The heroes had appeared a few months ago. They were three gifted people who just decided one day that they were going to help out anyone they could. They were like real life Avengers, and they were treated like celebrities around the globe. Since their appearance, there had also been a rise in the number of gifted people, some using their powers to help others, but others becoming criminals who the police had a hard time stopping without help. It was something straight out of a movie, but the world had just learned to accept it.

The fire lit up the entire neighborhood. So much fear was present, and Virgil could hear the internal screams echoing around him. _Did my son make it out? Where will we go?_ Virgil could feel himself struggling to breathe and felt his body shaking. He was having an anxiety attack. He crouched on the ground, shoving his hands against his ears and closing his eyes, trying to block everything out.

He was faintly aware of someone crouching beside him. He heard a voice, and he forced himself to focus on it.

“Can you breathe? Are you hurt?”

Virgil shook his head slightly.

“Are you having a panic attack?”

Well, technically it was an anxiety attack, but close enough. He nodded.

“Okay, is it alright if I touch you?”

Virgil thought for a moment and then nodded. He felt gentle hands lift him up. Then, one of his arms was pulled around someone’s neck while that person supported him with their other arm wrapped around him. “I’m going to bring you somewhere a little safer, okay?”

Away from the noise. Virgil nodded.

He didn’t remember walking, but they were suddenly much farther away from the fire. The person set him down on a bench and sat next to him.

“Okay, try to breathe. Can you do that? Can you breathe in for four seconds?”

Virgil nodded. He was familiar with the technique that the stranger was using. It was the same one Patton had used to help him more than once.

The stranger counted out loud as Virgil inhaled and exhaled. Virgil’s vision was returning, and he realized that the stranger who was helping him was Morality. That explained why he didn’t remember walking to the park, Morality had super speed.

“Any better?” Morality asked a few minutes later. Virgil nodded.

“Th-thank you...”

Morality smiled, his eyes lighting up. “You’re welcome! Uh, what’s your name?”

“Virgil.”

“Okay, Virgil. Was that your apartment building that was on fire?” Morality shifted to give Virgil a little more space, which he appreciated.

Virgil nodded.

“Well, I have some good news, the fire wasn’t that bad. It was mostly contained to one room, and it didn’t cause much destruction before me and my friends got there. I don’t think that it’s going to leave anyone homeless.”

Virgil sighed out of relief. He hadn’t let himself think about where he’d go if he had to.

“Are you ready to go back? I need to make sure that everyone is safe, and I don’t think you want to be left out here.” Morality stood up.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Thanks.”

Morality put his arm under Virgil’s, and a moment later they were standing in front of the building again. There were fire trucks and sirens and everything was loud, but Virgil was in control. People were still panicking, but it was substantially weaker than it had been ten minutes ago.

He turned around to thank Morality, but he was gone.

\---

The next time something interesting happened to Virgil, he had been at work. Patton was standing at the register, checking people out, while Virgil was helping a lady find the type of cat food she was looking for. The shelf started tipping forward, about to crush both Virgil and the lady, when they were suddenly knocked out of the way. When Virgil opened his eyes, he saw Morality standing in front of him.

“Are you two okay?” He asked after the shelf landed with a loud crash. Virgil groaned internally, but was grateful that Morality had saved their lives.

“Yeah,” Virgil said. The fear of being crushed to death echoed throughout the room, but Virgil didn’t let himself focus on it. He forced himself to breathe.

“Okay, I gotta run,” Morality stated with a laugh, and he ran off.

Patton had disappeared.

Virgil only knew one person on the planet who enjoyed puns like the one Morality just made, and he was currently missing. Virgil was probably overthinking, but he couldn’t shake the idea from his head.

\---

The third incident happened a few months later. It had actually snowed in Florida, and the ground was icy. Virgil was going to be late for work, and he went too fast. He started to slide off of the road just before he reached the pet store, but his car door was thrown open and someone pulled him out of his car and away from the wreck. It was, of course, Morality, the only person on the earth who could move that fast and who had such an obsession with saving Virgil.

“Are you okay, Virgil?” Morality asked.

“Yeah, thanks.” Virgil stared at Morality for a while, noting that he had brown eyes and a smile that was almost always present. If he looked hard enough, he could see some freckles that had been exposed by Morality’s mask not being positioned exactly right. Under his hood, a few strands of light brown hair had escaped, and they were blowing in the wind. Yeah, Virgil was almost certain that Morality was Patton. “Why are you always the one to save me? I thought there were three of you?”

Morality shrugged. “Right place at the right time, I guess!”

Virgil wasn’t convinced.

\---

“Hey, Patton, do you like running?” Virgil asked Patton the next day. He was determined to figure out if Patton was Morality or not.

“Well, Logan makes me do it sometimes. He says that running will help me burn off some calories and make my hyperactivity easier to deal with. I’m not sure I believe him, but he’s pretty smart, so I listen to him anyways.” Patton shrugged. Logan must be a friend or relative of Patton’s, Virgil assumed. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious,” Virgil mumbled. He didn’t mention Patton’s jolt of fear that someone had figured it out.

That was it, Virgil decided. Patton was a superhero.

\---

Virgil watched the news that night. He never watched the news because it made him too anxious, but he wanted to pay attention to anything about anything about Logic, Creativity, or Morality.

As he watched, he saw Patton (he was completely convinced that it was Patton now) getting attacked by other people, burned and cut by saving people from fires and other situations, and overall putting himself in dangerous situations. It made Virgil anxious. He didn’t want anything to hurt Patton, for some reason.

When Virgil cared about someone, he cared about them to the point where he would rather put himself in a bad situation to save them than watch as they got hurt. Virgil turned off the TV and walked into his bedroom, an idea forming in his mind.

He pulled out some makeup and he sat in front of the mirror. He tried to get rid of his bags, but when that didn’t work, he grabbed his black eye-shadow and made the marks on his eyes even darker. It looked... stupid. It suited him, though. By just applying the eye-shadow, he seemed to transform into someone else.

He looked through his dresser, trying to find something to wear. He pulled out a black hoodie that would definitely make it harder for people to see his face. He found a black cape from a Halloween costume from several years ago, and he tied it around his shoulders. He wasn’t completely different, but nobody would be able to tell it was him unless they looked closely.

He stood up and started heading for the door, then he stopped.

_What am I doing? Am I really going to try to go help Patton? He’s a superhero, he knows what he’s doing! I just have anxiety..._

That’s it. Anxiety. It fit with the whole brand that the other three had going on, and it described his powers, unlike the others’ names. He thought about how dangerous what he was doing would be, but he also thought about how Patton was putting himself in danger, and how Virgil would hate himself if Patton got hurt.

_I’ll just stick to the shadows. I can make people hallucinate without directly confronting them. I can make this work._

Before he had a chance to save his mind, Virgil left the building to find the heroes.


	3. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: panic attacks, hallucinations, death (temporary), injuries (let me know if more need to be added!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the wait on this one! I've been through a lot in the past month or so and faced a lot of writers block. I will try to get a chapter out as often as I can but if it takes a month or longer please be patient!

Patton shivered. He followed Logan out of the apartment building, wishing his hero outfit was a little warmer. At least the snow had stopped.

“...more and more show up all the time. At this rate, gifted are going to be the majority. The government is going to go insane.”

“Well, I don’t think we should worry about it, Lo.” Patton adjusted his mask.

Logan sighed, staring up as the stars started to appear in the orange sky. “You saw that girl tonight. What would have happened if her powers had been slightly more out of her control? The storm would have grown larger and she could have caused such drastic changes in the climate and weather patterns that it could have a global impact! She was barely able to control her abilities even with our help! You don’t want her to end up being experimented on, do you?”

There had been speculation that a secret branch of the government had been experimenting on people with abilities. Logan had never been concerned too much about it, though.

“Why are you so worried, Logic? Is something wrong?” Patton asked.

“I don’t know. I... no, nothing’s wrong. Just a little anxious. It will pass. Where is Creativity?”

Normally Patton would move on after Logan insisted he was fine, but something felt off. Patton couldn’t tell what it was, though.

“He might have had to take care of something. He’ll be here soon.”

“Late as usual,” Logan muttered under his breath. “We should start heading back. Actually, we need to stop by the library. With the weather anomalies caused by our friend back there, I expect there will be some... interesting weather over the next few days. I want to monitor it.”

“Why do we need to go to the library? We have laptops,” Patton asked as he followed. “Besides, we’re in uniform. We can’t go marching into the library looking like heroes.”

Logan swore under his breath. “We’ll change after Creativity gets here.” He looked up as a bright red bird flew past. When it landed, though, it was no longer a bird. A tired-looking Roman stood there, an annoyed expression on his face as he brushed some remaining feathers onto the ground. “Speak of the Devil.”

“There you are!” Patton called. He felt like he should feel relieved, but the feeling of something being wrong was still there.

“Yes, here I am. Now, you two, come with me now. Fast.” Roman grabbed their hands, pulling them after him.

Logan pulled his hand away angrily. “What are you doing?”

Roman held a finger to his lips. He looked behind them, then whispered, “There was someone following you.”

“What? Who?” Patton asked.

“I don’t know. They were dressed in all dark clothing, and I didn’t see their face, but they were definitely following you. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a villain,” Roman replied as he started walking again. Logan and Patton followed close behind.

Logan sighed. “We are not from a Disney film. The term is criminal, not villain.”

“You just don’t want to have any fun. You never have fun. I don’t even know if you can have fun,” Roman replied.

“Guys, shh. Are they still following us?” Patton asked, the sense of unease transforming into dread. His heart rate was speeding up.

Take a deep breath, Patton. You’re fine.

Everything’s fine.

“What if we try to find them?” Roman asked, and Logan glared at him.

“Are you trying to be the biggest idiot in existence?”

“I don’t know how that’s possible, seeing as I’m standing next to you!” Roman replied.

Patton stepped between Logan and Roman. “Guys, is now really the time?”

They stared at each other but finally gave in. Patton sighed. Keeping the two of them peaceful was hard and tiring.

“I still think we should find whoever’s following us, though. They could be evil, and it’s our job to stop them if they are,” Roman insisted.

“I... hate to admit it, but you do have a point.”

“Ha! I win!”

“Now, kiddo, what did I just say about it not being a good time for arguing?” Patton said.

They walked in the direction Roman indicated. The sun had completely vanished and the streets which Roman was leading them down were dark. The stars let little light shine on the street.After several minutes of wandering and Roman insisting that he was going the right way, Logan asked, “Are we sure they didn’t leave? Did you actually see someone or was it a trick of the light?”

“Are you doubting my abilities?” Roman demanded.

“I’m only saying that I think we should go home before we freeze! There’s no one-”

Logan was cut off as the sound of footsteps approaching echoed a little ways away. He made eye contact with Roman, and they started running. Patton followed close behind.

They turned around a corner and Logan bumped straight into a dark figure. He probably would have stayed on his feet, but a bright purple flash that looked like something straight out of Harry Potter sent him flying back. Roman and Patton were pushed back by the force of the blast as well, but they hadn’t been as close as Logan had. The figure, which Patton could see now, was breathing heavily and staring down at his hands. If Patton didn’t know any better, he would say that the person was scared. He looked up and met Patton’s gaze, his eyes glowing purple but fading. He had dark eyeshadow under his eyes, which Patton had to admit was an interesting makeup choice. He had dark clothing and a black cape. His hair was covered by a hood.  
Suddenly, Patton could feel his breath becoming more shallow and faster. His head hurt and he felt panicked. He was faintly aware of the figure turning around and running away. Patton looked over at his friends. They were covered in blood, lying limp on the ground.

_No no no no no no no no no no no. This was not happening. When did this happen? Did Patton really get that distracted? A second ago Roman was fine, and Patton could have sworn that Logan wasn’t hurt too badly!_

Patton rushed over to them, shaking Roman’s shoulders. “Wake up Roman! Come on, please! You can’t be hurt like this, please...” Roman didn’t move. Patton checked for a pulse but couldn’t find one. Letting out a sob, he did the same to Logan but got the same result. He felt tears rolling down his cheeks. “No, no please, we’ve been through more dangerous stuff than this before! You can’t be dead! Please wake up, please!” Patton collapsed into a sobbing mess on the ground, wrapping his arms around himself. Everything hurt. “This is my fault. I never should have told you to be heroes... my fault...”

“Patton!”

He looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked back to see a hurt but alive Logan standing behind him. He looked back at where he had seen Logan and Roman’s bodies, but they were gone. Roman was standing next to him, his eyes glazed over. Patton was slightly confused, but his friends were alive. Right? What was real and what was fake? He couldn’t tell anymore.

“Patton, can you hear me?” Logan sounded out of breath.

Patton nodded. He still wasn’t sure what was happening, but Logan was there, so it was okay.

“You need to breathe. You know that. Try to slow down. Here, inhale...” Logan led him through the same breathing technique Patton used with Virgil. As Patton was calming down, he heard Roman gasp and start coughing, his breathing also irregular.

“What just happened?” Roman asked.

“If I had to guess, I’d say that our new, er, shadowy friend, has given each of us hallucinations. He’s definitely gifted,” Logan replied, brushing off his outfit as if he could make it clean just by wishing.

“Wait, you had one too, Logan?” Patton asked.

Logan was shaking. How did Patton not notice that before?

“I believe we all did. Patton had the biggest reaction. Mine was the weakest, possibly because of my own abilities. I’m not easily susceptible to mind tricks, and that’s all that this is,” Logan insisted, but Patton knew it was a lie. Logan had been affected by... whatever had happened, just as much as Roman and Patton had.

“Who is he?” Roman asked.

“Who, the shadow figure?” Patton asked.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Who else would I be talking about?”

“I don’t know. Hey, Logan, did you get anything from him?” Patton asked.

“It all happened quickly so I didn’t have much time to see into his mind.” Logan looked down and Patton regretted asking. He knew that Logan got upset whenever he made a “mistake”.

“Well that’s okay, we can figure that out later,” Patton said, standing up. “We should go back, we’re all hurt.”

“Good idea. We can talk later,” Logan said.

\---

“So who is this guy?” Roman asked.

“He wears eyeshadow under his eyes instead of above them,” Patton stated. He didn’t have anything useful to offer but that was one thing he remembered.

Logan sighed as he sat down at his kitchen table. “He is obviously gifted, that’s for sure. The blast of power, the purple light, it seemed to be some sort of release of energy. If I had to guess, I’d say that he’s been holding it back for a long time now and tonight he finally let it go.”

Roman hummed the Frozen song under his breath, which earned him a glare from Logan. “What?” Roman asked.

“It’s been years since that movie was released, and yet you still insist on cursing us with those songs.”

“What did he even do?” Patton asked, cutting in before an argument could start.

“Hallucinations. Fear. We were all feeling uneasy while we were near him, right? I’m almost positive that’s his fault.”

“So what, we’ve got this super powerful vill- _criminal_ ,” He glanced at Logan who had been prepared to correct him, “who we have to deal with now?” Roman asked.

“I don’t think he’s as powerful as we saw. Like I said, it seemed as if he’s been holding that energy in for a long time.”

“So you don’t think the blast thing was normal?” Patton asked.

Logan frowned. “I can’t know anything for certain, but he definitely looked shocked after he did whatever he did.”

“Is he a threat, though?” Roman asked, looking impatient. “Because if he is, we need to stop him.”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll try to figure some things out tomorrow. For now I suggest that you both go home and try to rest. We’re all drained from all of the activity tonight.”

Roman left and Patton followed. As he walked home, he couldn’t stop thinking about how scared the person had looked, as if he was afraid of his own abilities.

_What if he needed help? What if he had been trying to find Patton and the others because he didn’t know what to do about his abilities? Roman insisted that he was a villain, but was he right?_

No, Patton, this is what Logan means when he says emotions are worthless. If you keep believing that everyone can be good, you’ll end up getting your friends killed, just like you saw.

\---

“Are you okay?” Virgil asked quietly when Patton came in to work the next day.

Patton smiled. “Of course I am, kiddo! Why, is something wrong?”

Virgil shook his head and went back to work, avoiding eye contact with Patton the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't freak about them calling Roman "Creativity" instead of "Princey". That will come up within the next two chapters ;)  
> Virgil's abilities will be explained better in the future, but for now they're supposed to be confusing.  
> My tumblr is pattonly-absurd


	4. Doubts and Excitement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for more fires (will I ever use anything other than fire? The answer is probably no), burns (though no detailed descriptions of them), swords, kidnapping, self-doubt  
> As always, let me know if I should add anything!

_Roman rushed out onto the stage, but it was too late. He had missed his cue, his costume was half on, and everyone was whispering, confused. He opened his mouth to say his lines, but they wouldn’t come. From the back of the theater, someone started booing. Soon, everyone else joined in. Roman fled the theater, holding back tears as he headed home. That night, there was a segment on the local news about how the best actor in the city, probably even in the state, had failed so horribly. Roman’s life was ruined. He never wanted to do anything else again. What was the point? He was a failure._

  
The alarm went off and Roman woke up.

  
He had to think for a few minutes before he remembered that his dream wasn’t real. The recurring nightmare that had plagued him every night for the past two weeks, the result of the hallucination shown to him by the yet to be identified villain, became harder and harder to distinguish from reality.

Roman sighed, forcing himself out of bed. He got dressed and had a quick breakfast of toast before grabbing his sword and preparing to leave. The routine he had fallen into since he had started the whole hero thing became boring quickly. Roman longed for a change. Sure, it was exciting when he stopped a major criminal and the whole city praised him, but normal day-to-day things like small robberies got old ages ago.

Still, this was his job now, and he was just as committed as the other two to keeping the citizens of the world (or maybe just the city they lived in) safe. It might get boring, but it was worth it. He just wished that there was a little more excitement.

Well, short story short, he got his wish.

\---

Logan 4:36 pm- Are you planning on joining us today?  
Roman 4:36 pm- Rehearsal went longer than I thought it would today, okay?!  
Logan 4:37 pm- Calm down, there is no point to unnecessary panic.  
Roman 4:37 pm- I wasn’t panicking I’m just frustrated  
Roman 4:37 pm- On my way

Roman had just put his phone away when he heard an explosion. A building that was a few blocks away was suddenly lit up with bright flames. The people around him started screaming. Some pulled out their phones, probably to call 911. Many of them started running. While everyone was confused and panicked, Roman took the opportunity to change into his hero outfit. His sword reappeared by his side, his signature red cape flicking gently in the breeze. _Finally, something interesting._

As he got closer to the burning building, he noticed that there was something wrong with the fire. Not only did it seem artificial, the flames moving in ways that no fire was supposed to, but it was red.

Fires weren’t an uncommon thing that Roman and the other two dealt with. It just became a fact of life that they would have to run into burning buildings or save the people who had escaped from further danger. However, Roman had seen enough fires to know that they were supposed to be orange, not red.

The building on fire was a small, local cafe. Roman had been there a few times. There wasn’t much he could do about the damage being done to the building. Everyone seemed to have evacuated, so he turned his attention to the people standing outside, staring in shock.

“Hello, wonderful citizens, I am here to save you! Please, back away from the fire! Help will be here soon!” Roman had done this enough times. The part that wasn’t quite right was the fact that the fire wasn’t normal. It shouldn’t have affected him as much as it did, but Roman found himself getting distracted.

The faint sound of approaching sirens made Roman relax slightly, but he still wasn’t done. He had to lead everyone away from the fire still. He looked back at the shop to be sure everyone was out, and...

There was a figure standing inside.

After a quick internal battle over what he should do, Roman left the people outside with quick instructions to back away further, then sprinted towards the fire, prepared to enter the building heroically, when the figure exited the building. She was wearing a long, black dress that shimmered and looked like it was made of sequins, or maybe scales. The tips were burning with the same unnatural red as the building. She seemed unbothered, but it was hard to tell, since her face was concealed behind a detailed dragon mask, the same color as her dress. In her arms, she carried an unconscious woman who was dressed in the standard employee uniform for the shop. Her long brown hair was dangerously close to the fire.

The masked woman saw Roman and tilted her head as if she was amused. “Why, hello there. Come to stop me and save the day?” Her tone said that she doubted that he could stop her.

“Yes, that’s exactly why I’m here. Now, villain, how about you place her down, and I won’t have to run this sword through you!”

“Alright, how about I place her down right back in there?” She tilted her head towards the fire.

“Because if you do that, I’ll be forced to attack you.”

The woman laughed, and then she did place the other woman down. Fortunately she was far enough away from the fire.

Her hands lit on fire, small spheres of unnatural glowing red in her hands. Roman wanted to jump back, but he stopped himself. He was a hero. Some gifted person in a dragon mask wasn’t going to defeat the mighty hero of Creativity!

“And what makes you think you can defeat me?”

Roman took out his sword but prepared to shape shift too if he needed. “Because I’ve been doing this for a while now, and I know how being a hero works! You aren’t even a good villain, you just show up, kidnap the girl with no motivations, and expect the protagonist to come rescue her! Come on, were you even trying?”

She grinned, or at least Roman thought she was grinning based on how she tilted her head. “I am trying. You think I’m taking Valerie for no reason?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know I’m going to stop it!” Roman rushed forward, prepared to attack.

It didn’t go so well.

Roman barely got within ten feet before he had to double back. The woman was summoning fireballs and throwing them at him. He dodged some, but when one grazed his right arm, he was forced to drop the sword. She was forcing him to retreat further from the other woman, Valerie?

He had to do something, so he took a deep breath, focusing all of his energy. He tried to think of a small, fast animal that would give him a chance to get past the... dragon... witch. Yeah. That’s what he’d call her. He felt himself changing, and suddenly he was a rabbit. He sprinted towards the Dragon Witch, dodging between her legs, and heading towards the unconscious girl. Unfortunately, a wall of flames erupted in front of him. He changed back into his normal form, and he was close enough to the Dragon Witch that he could punch her. She fell against the ground, but shot another flame that grazed Roman’s leg. While Roman tried not to swear because of the pain, the Dragon Witch regained her balance. Her mask was askew slightly, but it still concealed her identity.

“Are you sure you were stopping me, Creativity? Dumb name, by the way. Who came up with that whole thing?” Now she was just stalling. Or being annoying. Or both. Roman couldn’t tell.

“Leave now, Dragon Witch, or you will regret it!” Roman threatened.

She laughed. “Oh, that one’s not bad. I might use that. Guess we’ll have to see. Thank you very much, kind hero.” She definitely smiled there. Another wall of fire appeared in front of him, this time even bigger, and he had to shut his eyes. When he opened them again, the Dragon Witch and the other woman were gone. The fire trucks pulled into the parking lot and started working while Roman stood there, stunned.

The pain from the burns was finally starting to affect Roman. As he started to walk away and find a hidden location where he could change out of the burnt outfit, he felt a buzz in his pocket. He had forgotten about Logan and Patton. Oops.

Patton 4:51- hey kiddo! just wanted to make sure you were okay! you told logan that you would be here soon and you still haven’t shown up.  
Roman 4:52- I’m so sorry, I had something to take care of  
Patton 4:52- that’s okay, kiddo! did whatever you were doing go well?  
Roman 4:53- As much as I hate to admit it, I think I made a grave mistake  
Patton 4:53- is it something that we need to fix right now?  
Patton 4:53- if you need my help i’ll be over there as quickly as possible!  
Roman 4:54- No, you have your own things to deal with, we can fix this another time  
Patton 4:54- if you say so!  
Roman 4:54- I’m on my way now, if you guys still want me around.  
Patton 4:55- yeah, of course we do! see you soon! <3

The little heart made him smile. Patton always ended all of his conversations with a heart, no matter who he was talking to. That’s just who he was.

Roman assumed that when he met up with the other two, they would be able to go searching for the Dragon Witch together. What he didn’t expect was for his day to get even crazier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of the one year anniversary of the Valentine's Day video, which introduced us to the Dragon Witch, I thought that this chapter would be appropriate to post today! The Dragon Witch won't be the main focus of this AU until later, but I needed to establish that she existed now for my future plans to work out. Thank you so much for reading and Happy Valentine's Day! My tumblr is pattonly-absurd.tumblr.com if you want to come say hi!


	5. Misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for mentions of burns, mild anxiety attacks, violence, blood, bruises, threats  
> As always, let me know if I need to add anything!

There it was, a quick motion. Someone was sneaking around in the shadows. If the light hadn’t caught their clothing, they would have been completely hidden.

Logan knew who it was. The criminal who called himself Anxiety had been hanging out around the usual places where Logan and the other two operated. He stayed far enough away from the heroes for it to seem suspicious, and he was always found near another criminal. He would disappear before the heroes arrived, though. It was very strange behavior, and Logan didn’t understand it.

This time, though, Anxiety had been caught. He had come a little too close and had been a little too careless. Logan silently tapped on Patton’s shoulder and gestured towards the direction Anxiety had started heading.

“What about Roman?” Patton whispered. “He said he was on his way.”

As if he had been summoned, Roman suddenly appeared behind them. They turned around to find a sweating Roman. Upon further examination, Logan saw that Roman had what appeared to be burns on some patches of his skin. “You two will not BELIEVE what just happened.”

“We can discuss that later. For now, we have another issue to deal with.” Without waiting for a response, Logan turned and started heading after Anxiety.

Logan could have easily looked into Roman’s mind and figured out where he had been, but Logan had decided that his friends should have a right to the privacy of their own brain (this was the conclusion reached after a surprisingly philosophical conversation with Patton). Every once in a while, he wouldn’t be able to control it, but when he was able to, he did.

The footsteps of the other two following behind him echoed just too loud. Anxiety, who had paused momentarily, looked up at the sound, and started running.

“Got it,” Patton said quietly as he sprinted at the speed of light towards Anxiety.

“Be careful,” Roman muttered under his breath. Logan wasn’t sure if he meant that for Patton or for Logan, but either way, Roman definitely didn’t seem very calm. Something was off with him, but Logan didn’t have time to worry about that.

Patton returned a few seconds later with Anxiety, holding onto him by the back of his dark hoodie. The hood slipped back slightly, revealing more of his dark bangs, but it stayed on.

“Hi there!” Patton said as Anxiety struggled, trying to get loose. “How are you?”

Roman rolled his eyes. “God, Patton, we’re trying to stop him, not have a conversation!”

The familiar feeling of anxiousness that was always present when Anxiety was around had returned. Logan had convinced himself that he felt that way because of Anxiety’s abilities. Why else would he be nervous? It’s not like...

Focus, Logan. You have a job to do.

While Roman and Patton started fighting, Logan closed his eyes and concentrated on Anxiety’s thoughts.

_They’re going to kill me. They hate me. I messed up. Oh, god, what’s going to happen to me? Are they going to send me to jail?_

The thing about Logan’s powers was that while he could hear those thoughts echoing inside Anxiety’s head like a never-ending storm of fear, he couldn’t tell how worried Anxiety actually was. For all Logan knew, those thoughts could be small and in the back of his mind, or they could be large and consuming, forcing all other thought processes away. Either way, it was clear that Anxiety was scared.

“So, villain, tell us. What are your motives?” Roman, of course, being dramatic as always. Anxiety didn’t respond.

Patton smiled. “Now, kiddo, we aren’t going to hurt you. Here, I’ll let you go.”

“Patton, no-” Roman held out his hand, as if doing so could stop Patton, but he had already let go. Anxiety looked frantically between the three of them for a moment and took a hesitant step backwards.

_I’m sorry,_ was the only thought in his mind. Then, the connection with his thoughts was broken as Anxiety turned around and ran. There was a small purple flash, much smaller than the large blast from before, and he was gone.

Logan would have followed if it wasn’t for the fact that the only thing he was now able to focus on was his own fears. He tried to rationalize with himself, force the fears down, but he couldn’t. What’s at the bottom of the ocean? It’s so dark down there, so vast and empty and full of hundreds of creatures scientists don’t know about yet. Space is so large and there was so much that nobody knew about space. There was so much that nobody knew about Earth still, so how could they know enough about space? Does Logan even know anything? Is anything even relevant?

“G-guys, we need to calm down...”

Logan heard Patton’s familiar voice and he returned to reality. He could feel his heart beating faster than it should and his breath coming in short bursts. He forced himself to slow down and take a deep breath, instantly feeling better. He knew that the others must have experienced a similar effect, definitely caused by Anxiety.

“How long were we like that?” Logan asked once his breathing slowed. Patton shrugged.

Roman took out his sword, looking tired but determined. “I’m going after him. He won’t get away with this!”

Something didn’t seem right to Logan. “Wait, before you go, there is something we should discuss.”

“What is it?” Patton asked, looking concerned.

“I was reading his mind, and just before he ran away, his only thought was ‘I’m sorry’. I’m not the expert on emotions, but that seems strange to me.”

Patton thought for a moment. “You’re right. We still don’t know why he’s doing this. Do we even know what he’s doing?”

“Making us afraid, of course!” Roman sighed in exasperation. “You guys have seen what he does, right? He makes us scared when we’re around other villains to try to stop us!”

“Hmm, it does seem that way, but that does not explain why he would feel sorry.” Logan couldn’t shake the strange feeling.

“Look, villains can feel bad too! That doesn’t make them not evil!” Roman was getting impatient. “I’ll try to cut him off, you guys follow from another direction. We’ll trap him this time.” With that, Roman ran off.

Patton looked over at Logan. “Well, guess we’re doing this now!” He ran away, this time only slightly above normal speed.

Logan sighed. Today was going to be an interesting day, he could tell.

\---

Roman headed around the city, trying to cut Anxiety off. He had shape-shifted and flown up a few times just to be sure he was on the right track, but chose to remain in his normal form the rest of the time.

When his path finally met Anxiety’s, they almost ran straight into each other. Anxiety saw Roman’s sword, and his eyes widened as he backed up.

“Woah, hey there, Princey, watch where you’re going. Wouldn’t want to stab someone, would ya?” Anxiety’s voice would have been calm if it wasn’t for the small shake in it that betrayed him.

“I have only ever used this on villains who deserve it.”

“And I deserve to have a sword shoved through my chest? Come on, how can you hate me that much when we’ve only just met?” This Anxiety was very different from the scared person who had run away from them a few moments ago. The only indicator that they were, in fact, the same person was his eyes. Not only did they glow with a slight tint of purple if you looked close enough, but they were wide with fear. They darted around, trying to see everything at once.

Roman wasn’t one to back down because of a sarcastic remark. “Five minutes into our date, and you managed to ruin it. I think you must be breaking some records here.”

“Glad to know I succeeded at something.”

Roman rushed towards Anxiety, forcing him to back against a wall. Holding the tip of his sword at Anxiety’s throat, Roman gave him no mistake. “Now, why don’t you tell me what your plans are.”

Anxiety put up his hands in a “surrender” position. “Look, I’m just trying to help-”

“Then stop. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to attack.”

Anxiety smirked, an expression that didn’t match his eyes. “Yes, because P- ...Morality would love it if he found out you killed me.”

Roman knew that Anxiety was right. Patton had a rule that was basically no killing if you could just hurt them, and no hurting if you could talk first.

“Fine, but there are still punishments for people like you.” Roman lowered his sword slightly. “So, your options are, you come with me, or you fight.

Anxiety thought for a moment. “Surrender isn’t really how I work. Fight-or-flight is what I tend to go for, and I lean heavily towards flight. So, if you’re done talking about punishments and making empty threats, I think I’m going to go.”

Roman started to put down his sword. Anxiety smiled, moving slightly, and Roman punched him.

What? Roman hated to admit it, but he was terrified of Anxiety, even if he should have been relatively easy to beat compared to some other villains he had taken down in the past. He just acted on instinct. Roman put his sword away, knowing that he would actually end up killing Anxiety accidentally if he didn’t.

Anxiety stood back up, the smile gone, and he looked completely terrified. He didn’t run, instead he just stood in place. Roman could feel the fear radiating off of him. This wasn’t done yet, though.

People around had started gathering to watch, because no matter what you do or what dangers you face, people will always want to get a video to share on Instagram or something.

Anxiety tried to move away again. “Not so fast,” Roman said as he caught Anxiety’s arm.

Bad idea.

He didn’t end up on the ground, but he did end up stumbling sideways as Anxiety punched him in return. Anxiety turned to run, and Roman stuck out his leg, causing him to trip and fall again. Anxiety stood back up and ran towards Roman again, getting a hit or two in. Roman returned them. Anxiety was a lot weaker and smaller than Roman, and had probably never been in a fight like this one. He was bleeding and bruised.

Patton and Logan had arrived. They were too far away, though.

Roman kept fighting.

\---

What was Roman doing? Did Anxiety start this fight? No, it looked like Anxiety was trying to get away...

“Wait, stop!” Patton called. Roman ignored him.

Logan got closer, and he looked like he was concentrating. He must be trying to read Anxiety’s mind, Patton thought. “What’s going on?” He asked Logan.

Logan turned around, his eyes wide. “Patton, I think we’ve made a mistake.”

“What?”

Logan grabbed Patton’s hand, pulling him towards Roman and Anxiety. “We need to stop him. Anxiety isn’t a criminal, or at least I don’t think he is.”

“How do you know?” Patton asked.

“He’s thinking about how stupid fighting Roman is because he’s doing the exact opposite of what he planned. Patton, he was trying to help us.”

Patton didn’t understand, but if Roman was hurting someone who was innocent, he needed to stop.

“Wait, stop fighting!” Patton called out again, louder this time. Anxiety turned around and looked at Patton, relief in his eyes. Then he stumbled, clearly injured, and fell towards the ground. Patton ran as fast as he could and caught Anxiety before he landed on the ground. He let out a small gasp of pain, clearly trying to not make it too obvious that he was seriously hurt.

“Morality, what are you doing?!” Roman shouted, grabbing Patton’s shoulder and almost causing him to lose balance before he could lower Anxiety gently to the ground.

Logan cleared his throat. “There has been a misunderstanding.”

“You can say that again,” Anxiety said bitterly, the pain evident in his voice. “Come on, Princey, were you _trying_ to kill me there?”

There was something familiar about Anxiety, but Patton couldn’t figure out what. Maybe he just reminded him of Virgil, the sarcastic remarks covering his fear.

“You know what? I’m going to call myself Princey now, just so you can’t use that to mock me. How does it feel, commoner?” Roman declared.

“Alright, kiddos, that’s enough. Anxiety, if there truly was a misunderstanding, then we can let you go now,” Patton said, trying to avoid any more fights, verbal or physical.

Logan shook his head. “He requires medical attention, now. Let’s take him back to my house.” Logan had plenty of medical supplies at his house specifically for hero-related injuries. They couldn’t just walk into a hospital with injuries every other day. “That is, if you are alright with that,” He added to Anxiety. “We can also get Roman something for those burns. Where did those even come from? Was there a fire?”

“No, they randomly appeared this morning. What do you think? And you’re supposed to be the smart one!” Roman said.

Anxiety smirked, then grimaced, probably from pain. “So you’re just assuming that I want to go with the people who decided I was a villain, attacked me, and didn’t even get a chance to explain myself just because you feel bad for messing up?”

“No, we weren’t assuming that at all! But if you don’t want to come with us, at least go to a doctor or something, kiddo. You’re hurt pretty badly,” Patton replied. Whether or not Anxiety was evil was something yet to be determined, but he was still hurt, and part of Patton had become concerned for his safety.

“I mean, this isn’t really something I could explain to a doctor easily, so if you promise not to let any psychos with swords near me,” He glared at Roman, “Then I guess I’ll come along. Don’t expect me to be grateful about it, though.”

“Okay! Are you good to walk, or...” Patton asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Patton offered his hand, and Anxiety took it. There was a brief moment when their eyes met that Patton felt something extremely familiar, but the strange, artificial-looking purple glow was enough to convince him that it was nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify: Virgil's eyes only glow when he's REALLY anxious or when he's using his powers. The purple isn't something Patton would have noticed before now.  
> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story and who leaves comments, you guys are amazing.  
> My tumblr is pattonly-absurd if you want to come say hi!

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is pattonly-absurd.tumblr.com!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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